Most passengers remain masked up on a subway train in Seoul on March 20, 2023, the first day the mask mandate is lifted for public transportation. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite the mask mandate having been lifted for public transportation, sales of masks have actually increased slightly.
E-commerce operator TMON Inc. reported a 20 percent increase in mask sales between March 20-23 compared to the period between March 16-19.
Social commerce platform Wemakeprice Inc.’s mask sales also jumped by 8.9 percent over the same period, while the online mall SSG.com also saw its mask sales jump by around 30 percent.
“I still put on a mask before using public transportation to avoid contracting COVID-19 again,” said Kim Min-ji, a 27-year-old office worker. “Fine dust levels are quite high, so I plan on wearing a mask for a while.”
Fine dust levels in the Seoul region worsened between March 20-23.
“The concentration of fine dust has gone up, and people are used wearing masks in populated areas,” said an expert source in the distribution business.
Convenience store franchise GS25 saw a 62.6-percent rise in sun cream sales between Jan. 30-Feb. 27 compared to Jan. 1-29.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
